Interview
(Above: Options available on the MOVE Guides website)
company has been unequivocally global from day one. I even ordered a globe for our office so that no one ever forgets!
“In fact, our global culture is why we picked the UK as our base and why we hire people with international perspective for our team. I believe that London is the best place on earth to launch a global business. The connectivity, the time zone and the city’s international outlook makes it a great option for creating an international business. I can’t imagine building a global business from anywhere else.”
Had MOVE Guides faced any challenges by taking on a global customer base head on without working locally first? “For us, the hardest thing about ‘going global’ was definitely managing the operations of online payments” says Herbert. “I can’t believe it’s still so hard. There are a lot of interesting start-ups playing in the payments space so I can’t wait to see what takes the lead to support global businesses.”
So how exactly does the MOVE Guides website work? Whilst the message is clear (the website plans an end-to- end move for professionals, either with the support of a company or on your own), I ask Brynne to describe the user experience when they visit the website. “We offer expert local city content, price comparison and booking with reliable companies for 8 services, and customised management tools to help people to link to their social graph, organise tasks, receive updates, store files and communicate with companies they’ve booked.
“We call this a customer’s MOVEHub. Users can seek help with everything, from applying for a visa to shipping their
26 entrepreneurcountry
stuff to finding a flat and getting set up in
it...making it easier, cheaper and more social to move internationally.” What were Brynne’s hopes for the website within the next few years? “We want to be the world’s top brand for international relocation for global professionals” she says. “We will operate in key cities around the world, where you find global professionals and multinational firms. MOVE Guides brings technology and transparency to international relocation and that will fundamentally change it for both individuals and corporates.”
As our interview comes to a close and I get ready to leave the MOVE Guides offices (in the heart of Silicon Roundabout - where Brynne and the team have just moved in!) I ask if the CEO had any words of wisdom for other entrepreneurs working on a start-up or taking advantage of digital opportunities.
“I believe that determination, resilience and focus are the most important elements for doing anything well in life” Herbert says. “One of my favourite quotes from a professor of mine at LBS is that ‘great things happen when ordinary people become irrationally obsessed with something.’ For me, this is a great quote for business and in my case, athletics too. I was an elite gymnast as a teen in the US and at 14 I was practicing 30 hours per week and commuting for 3-hour round trips to practice!” Brynne is also keen to accredit her team for her success. “As a team and as a business we are wholly focused. We have absolute determination to succeed and that drives us as an organisation. There is no way to build a successful start-up unless you are thinking about it every minute and are irrationally obsessed with every detail. I don’t think anyone can build a disruptive business differently.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60